Man Who Drugged Wife and Invited Men to Rape Her Is Hospitalized on Day He Was Supposed to Take Stand

Dominique Pelicot was suffering from abdominal pain, his attorney reportedly said

The French man who admitted to drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her was hospitalized on a day he was set to testify during his Avignon, France.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, has previously pleaded guilty to having drugged his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, 72, for nearly a decade, from 2011 to 2020. Authorities have alleged Gisèle was raped by 83 different men and was assaulted at least 92 times, U.K. paper The Times reported.

But on the day he was set to be cross-examined for the first time, Dominique was taken to the hospital on Tuesday, Sept. 10, leading to an adjournment, Le Monde, The New York Times and Reuters reported.

"Mr. Pelicot is not trying to shirk his responsibility, he will not shirk his responsibility,” his attorney, Beatrice Zavarro, told reporters, according to Reuters.

Zavarro reportedly said that Dominique had been suffering from abdominal pain and was having trouble urinating.

Related: Husband's Case Goes to Trial as He's Accused of Drugging His Wife and Inviting Dozens of Men to Rape Her: Reports

Dominique is one of 51 men facing trial in connection with the repeated abuse of Gisèle, who had no knowledge of the alleged rapes until police informed her after they discovered thousands of photos and videos taken by her husband, who had documented the abuse after recruiting strangers on the internet, NYT reported, citing the investigating judge’s report.

Prosecutors say the Frenchman was arrested in December 2020 after police seized his electronics while investigating him for filming up the skirts of three women.

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Approximately 20,000 videos and photographs of the abuse were allegedly found on his devices by police, according to NYT’s reporting.

Zavarro previously said that her client was not disputing the charges, and that he has “always declared himself guilty, according to The Times,

Dominique and Gisèle are reportedly in the midst of divorce proceedings. They have three children together.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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